Swine flu kills 2 in S.J.

Friday

Aug 21, 2009 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Two San Joaquin County residents, a 5-year-old Stockton girl and a 34-year-old Lathrop man, have died in the past month from the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, San Joaquin County Public Health Services confirmed Thursday.

Joe Goldeen

STOCKTON - Two San Joaquin County residents, a 5-year-old Stockton girl and a 34-year-old Lathrop man, have died in the past month from the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, San Joaquin County Public Health Services confirmed Thursday.

The virus also has been called swine flu.

The girl was a confirmed case of pandemic H1N1, while the man tested positive for influenza A and is presumed to be positive for pandemic H1N1, since only that virus is currently circulating in California, according to public health officials.

Names and other details of the victims were not released.

Health officials expect that, because of the new strain of the virus known as pandemic H1N1 influenza, flu cases will greatly increase this fall and winter.

"While this pandemic H1N1 influenza strain is similar in terms of severity compared to the normal seasonal influenza strains, there will be a greater number of people sick in the community due to the presence of the additional pandemic H1N1 influenza strain," county health officer Karen Furst said.

Furst also noted that this strain is affecting a different segment of the population. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pandemic H1N1 influenza is causing more people younger than 25 to get sick rather than those older than 64, who are the typical flu victims and account for the majority of deaths during a normal flu season.

However, pregnancy and other previously recognized high-risk medical conditions associated with increased risk of complications from seasonal flu also appear to be affected, including conditions such as asthma, diabetes, suppressed immune systems, heart disease, kidney disease and neurocognitive or neuromuscular disorders.

Stockton resident Dominique Deloney, 23, who gave birth to a son by Cesarean section last Friday and was released from the hospital Sunday, was rushed back into intensive care at St. Joseph's Medical Center on Monday after she had trouble breathing and coughed up blood, according to her mother, Cheryl Ross.

Thursday morning, the family learned that Deloney - who remains on a ventilator - tested positive for the pandemic H1N1 virus, and that concerns Ross, because numerous family members, including children, have visited Deloney. Many were wearing masks, because Deloney also has symptoms of pneumonia. Ross expressed dismay over the lack of information given her about the flu.

"They did take some precautions, but you have to just be more careful," Ross said, noting that Deloney also has a 1-year-old child who is sick. Meanwhile, Ross was taking one of her foster children to a doctor Thursday because the child is suffering from a fever and other flu symptoms.

"All that could have possibly been prevented in terms of letting people know what the risk is and being cautious from Day One," Ross said. "I feel like people should know now, because school time is in."

She said her daughter was in perfect health before and during the pregnancy, which went off without complications.

San Joaquin County Public Health Services is partnering with other community agencies to reduce the impact of the spread of the pandemic H1N1 virus, including meeting with school administrators and health-service coordinators, issuing updates and alerts to hospitals and other health care providers, coordinating vaccines, making presentations to interested groups and planning an upcoming leadership summit.

"It is our goal to make sure that our partners are equipped with the necessary tools to address this pandemic," public health spokeswoman Shene Bowie said.